Field
Various features disclosed herein pertain to mobile commerce authentication and authorization systems, and at least some features pertain to devices and methods for facilitating authenticated and authorized commercial transactions across a wireless communications system.
Background
Merchants, vendors, credit card associations including VISA® and MasterCard® that act as gateways between a financial institution and an issuer for authorizing and funding purchases, and users of access terminals (e.g., mobile wireless communications instruments), all desire to conduct and close purchases and sales quickly and expeditiously. At least one concern is security, including acceptable and proper authorization and authentication that gives a vendor and a customer confidence that a fraudulent transaction will not occur.
Current constructs for effecting consumer purchases across a credit network generally are limited to use of a payment instrument in connection with a purchase. Currently, a consumer must have in possession a payment instrument such as a plastic credit card or debit card having a magnetic strip. Alternatively, “contactless” payment instruments may be used. At the point-of-sale, a credit card reader, terminal, or similar point-of-sale payment device is provided that requires the consumer to successfully swipe a payment instrument through the point-of-sale device. Over time, repetitive use degrades the magnetic strip on the payment instrument, and the data embedded in the magnetic strip may become unreadable by a point-of-sale device for a variety of reasons. Degradation of the magnetic strip may cause payment rejection although the consumer may be the authentic owner of the payment instrument. Even in the case of contactless payment instruments, authentication or verification of the customer is limited to data and information embedded in the payment instrument. Whoever possesses the payment instrument can effect purchases. The use of personal identification numbers solves neither the problems of customer identification nor customer authorization. Even customer authentication fails to overcome problems resulting from lost or stolen payment instruments, degraded instruments, or loss of functionality between the payment instrument and point-of-sale payment devices.
There is a worldwide need, therefore, for a secure point-of-sale payment system that substantially automatically authenticates a customer and substantially automatically initiates a payment for sales and purchases of goods and services on entry of a consumer or customer into a business or into a geographic area surrounding a business that includes use of a portable, or mobile, access terminals now commonly in possession of consumers worldwide. At least one example of such a portable, or mobile, access terminals or wireless communications device is a cellular telephone, but any access terminal to which a computer and/or data processing system may be operatively connected may be used.
Most proposed mobile commerce solutions for conducting purchases using an access terminal such as a cellular telephone require the point-of-sale device and/or the access terminal to be altered either structurally or systemically by adding hardware, software, and/or combinations of hardware and software. For example, although Near Field Communication (“NFC”) offers solutions in this field, the point-of-sale device must be adapted to communicate with an NFC-adapted mobile wireless communications device. The only advantage of enabling a customer to use a cellular telephone is that the user is, these days, likely to have a cellular telephone in possession. However, the need for major alterations of the point-of-sale device, as well as to the access terminal, and other infrastructure equipment to support the NFC-operable device, substantially reduce the likelihood of universality of use.
There is a need for a secure mobile commerce payment system that may be implemented with existing or legacy point-of-sale devices, without substantial alterations to the point-of-sale devices.